The Early History of Miniature Books
Tiny Books From Ancient, Medieval and 15th Century Sources
Jun 20, 2009
There are numerous ways to collect books. Many collectors specialize in one author or one topic or even one publisher, but one distinctive specialty is the miniature book, which appeals to students of typography as well as bookbinding. Technical difficulties in making such tiny books can be fully appreciated by those who know something about book construction. Others just collect them because they are charming to look at and delightful to handle.
Miniature Books are Useful as Well as Decorative
Tiny furniture, dishes, rugs and oil paintings are commonly seen in dollhouses and other collections, but they were made specifically for collectors. Miniature books, on the other hand, were intended to be read and used. They were mostly made by same craftsmen who made regular-sized books, and for this reason they have been called one of the few “true” miniatures in the collecting field, according to William Rogers in a 1972 Antiques Monthly article.
Ancient History of Miniature Books
Before the invention of printing, prior to approximately 1450, all books were written by hand. Trained monks known as scribes worked in a special room called a scriptorium. They used goose quills and handmade ink, enjoyed the artistry of their handwriting and executed intricate and decorative flourishes on the pages of their tiny works.
Since the average medieval manuscript was large, twelve to sixteen inches tall, these miniature books were a novelty much sought by kings, dukes, princesses and other nobility. The craftsmanship and attention to detail required was impressive, especially considering that the monks had no electricity and had to use only natural or candle light. They also worked long hours and had to make their own brushes and inks.
“Books of Hours” Were Carried by Medieval Knights
By the Middle Ages a private book publishing industry had been created, beginning around 1300 AD. Members of royalty and the wealthy were especially fond of these miniature works of art. Often a little “Book of Hours” contained the offices of the church to be read at appointed hours during the day and was carried in the pocket of a knight or warrior into battle. These often had rich tooled calf bindings with silver or carved ivory trimmings.
Few Changes Caused by Gutenberg and his Printing Press
When Johannes Gutenberg introduced his famous printing press, it had no immediate effect on miniature books because type blocks were not made in small sizes, in fact they were often much bigger than an average handwriting. Type could not be shrunk down or crowded onto a page like handwritten letters could be, and type was gothic rather than Roman, broad and thick and difficult to read even at normal size.
During the first fifty years of printing, only a dozen or so printers were known to have experimented with miniature books. Sometime between 1491 and 1495, for example, Caspar Hochfeder of Nuremberg printed a “religious or moral work of some kind” in German. The pages measured about 2.75” by 2.16” inches and were a good deal smaller than the tiny book reported by Douglas C. McMurtrie in his The Book: The Story of Printing & Bookmaking. McMurtrie describes the “Alphabetum Divini Amoris” of 1491 as having pages measuring 3.38 inches by 2.4 inches.
Aldus Manutius Introduced Italic Printing and Changed Miniature Bookbinding
In the mid-16th century, miniature bookbinding took a step forward with the advent of several innovations such as Italic type. Aldus Manutius commissioned Francesco Griffo who developed a slanted Roman lettering now known as Italic around 1501. Late in the 16th century the 3.5” miniature books became popular and the 4.5” by 2.5” editions gradually lessened in popularity.
By the 17th century, miniature bookbinding had become commonplace, with printers in most major European cities producing the classics, many versions of Bibles, almanacs and road books bound in sumptuous tooled morocco or calf.
